Analysis of The Little Town O' Tailholt
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
You kin boast about yer cities, and their stiddy growth and size,
And brag about yer County-seats, and business enterprise,
And railroads, and factories, and all sich foolery--
But the little Town o' Tailholt is big enough fer me!
You kin harp about yer churches, with their steeples in the clouds,
And gas about yer graded streets, and blow about yer crowds;
You kin talk about yer 'theaters,' and all you've got to see--
But the little Town o' Tailholt is show enough fer me!
They hain't no style in our town-- hit's little-like and small--
They hain't no 'churches,' nuther--, jes' the meetin' house is all;
They's no sidewalks, to speak of-- but the highway's allus free,
And the little Town o' Tailholt is wide enough fer me!
Some find it discommodin'-like, I'm willin' to admit,
To hev but one post-office, and a womern keepin' hit,
And the drug-store, and shoe-shop, and grocery, all three--
But the little Town o' Tailholt is handy 'nough fer me!
You kin smile and turn yer nose up, and joke and hev yer fun,
And laugh and holler 'Tail-holts is better holts'n none!
Ef the city suits you better w'y, hit's where you'd ort'o be--
But the little Town o' Tailholt's good enough fer me!
Scheme | AABB CCBB DDBB EEBB FFBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11101110011101 0101110101010 010100011100 1010111110111 111011101110001 01011101010111 111011100011111 1010111110111 111110101110101 1111101101111 11111110111 0010111110111 1111111101 111111000111 0011011010011 1010111110111 11101111010111 0101011110111 101011101001111111 101011110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,179 |
Words | 216 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 102 Views
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"The Little Town O' Tailholt" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21075/the-little-town-o%27-tailholt>.
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